CHURCH OF S. SAVIOUR IN THE CHORA
99. Details from the Church 305
100. Details of a Window in the Gallery 309
101. Plan of S. Sophia, Salonica 313
102. Plan of the Chora (restored) 314
103. Bay in the Chora (restored) 315
104. Plan of Church of the Archangels, Syge 316
105. Plan of the Chora and the Parecclesion 317
106. Cross Section, looking west 318
107. Plan of Upper Gallery 318
108. Section through Church 319
109. Section through Chapel 319
110. Plan of Dome 320
111. Section through Inner Narthex 320
112. Plan of Gallery between the Church and
the Parecclesion 320
113. Section of North Gallery 320
114. Plan of the Narthexes, indicating the positions
of their Mosaics 321
115. Model of the Church in the Mosaic over Main Door
in the Inner Narthex 326
116. Plan of the Parecclesion, indicating positions
of its Frescoes 328
PLATES
I. Mediaeval Map of Constantinople by
Bondelmontius _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
II. The Myrelaion (since it was burned).
(1) From the north-west.
(2) From the south-east 20
III. (1) The Myrelaion (since it was burned).
The Interior, looking east.
(2) Suleiman Aga Mesjedi 24
IV. (1) Bracket in S. Saviour in the Chora.
(2) Sculptured Slab in S. Theodore.
(3) S. Mary Diaconissa. Heads of Windows in south
arm.
(4) Sculptured Slab on the West Wall 28
CHURCH OF S. JOHN OF THE STUDION
V. (1) The Ruined Interior, seen from the minaret of the
mosque.
(2) The West Side of the Church 36
VI. (1) Facade of the Narthex.
(2) The Ruined Interior, at the West End of the North
Side 40
VII. (1) Entablature and Anta Capital in the Narthex.
(2) Cornice in the Narthex, looking up 44
VIII. The Church from the south-east 48
IX. (1) The East End of the Church.
(2) East End of the North Side of the Church 52
X. (1) The Cistern beside the Church.
(2) Another View of the same 54
THE CHURCH OF SS. SERGIUS AND BACCHUS
XI. The Interior of the Church, looking north-west 62
XII. (1) A Capital in the Church.
(2) A Capital in the Narthex of S. John of the Studion 66
XIII. (1) The Church from the south-east.
(2) View in the Gallery over the Narthex 70
XIV. (1) The Interior of the Church, looking north-east.
(2) Portion of the Entablature in the Church 74
XV. The Baptistery of the Church of S. Sophia.
(1) The Exterior from the north-east.
(2) The Interior of the Dome, showing Continuous
Pendentives 76
THE CHURCH OF S. IRENE
XVI. The Church from the south-east 84
XVII. (1) The South Side.
(2) The North Side 86
XVIII. The Interior, looking east 90
XIX. (1) Vaulting at the north-western Corner of the
Atrium.
(2) The Northern Arch of the Main Dome, seen from
the South Gallery 92
XX. (1) Mosaic in the Soffit of an Arch.
(2) Portion of the Mosaic Inscription on the Outer
Arch of the Apse 96
XXI. (1) The Interior, looking west.
(2) The Door at the East End of the North Aisle 98
XXII. (1) Vaulting over the South Aisle.
(2) A Compartment of Vaulting in South Aisle,
looking up 100
XXIII. (1) A Capital in the South Arcade.
(2) Base of a Column in the South Aisle 102
THE CHURCH OF S. ANDREW IN KRISEI
XXIV. The East End of the Church 106
XXV. (1) The Church from the south-west.
(2) The Interior, looking south 108
XXVI. (1) A Capital in the Inner Narthex.
(2) A Capital in the Arcade under the West Dome
Arch 110
XXVII. (1) A Capital in the Outer Narthex.
(2) A Capital in the Outer Narthex 112
XXVIII. (1) View in the Outer Narthex.
(2) View in the Inner Narthex, looking south 114
XXIX. (1) View in the Cloister.
(2) View in the Courtyard 116
XXX. (1, 2, 3) Three Views of the Decorated Doorway in
the Cloister 118
THE CHURCH OF S. MARY PANACHRANTOS
XXXI. (1) Vault of the Passage on the West of the
Dome in the South Church. (2) The Interior
of the North Church, looking north 122
XXXII. (1) The North Church, looking east.
(2) The North Church, looking west 126
XXXIII. (1) The Diaconicon, looking east.
(2) The Western Dome Arch in the South Church 128
XXXIV. (1) The East Window of the South Church.
(2) The Outer Narthex, looking south 130
XXXV. (1) The East End of the South Church. (2) The
East End of the North Church 132
CHURCH OF S. MARY PAMMAKARISTOS
XXXVI. (1) The Church from the south-east.
(2) The Church from the west 138
XXXVII. (1) The Inner Narthex, looking south.
(2) The Dome, looking west 142
XXXVIII. The Parecclesion from the south-east 144
XXXIX. (1) The East End of the Parecclesion.
(2) The West Column in the Parecclesion 148
XL. (1) The East Column in the Parecclesion.
(2) The Column flanking the East Window in the
Apse of the Parecclesion.
(3) The West Column in the Parecclesion 150
XLI. (1) Interior View of the Dome in the Parecclesion.
(2) Mosaic in the Dome of the Parecclesion 154
XLII. South Side of the Parecclesion 156
CHURCH OF S. THEODOSIA
XLIII. (1) The East End of the Church.
(2) The Church from the south-east 164
XLIV. (1) The Interior, looking north-east.
(2) The Eastern Dome Arch 168
XLV. (1) The Dome over the Stairway to the Galleries.
(2) The Narthex, looking north, and the
Stairway to the Galleries 172
CHURCH OF S. MARY DIACONISSA
XLVI. (1) The North-west Side, seen from the Aqueduct
of Valens. (2) The North Arm, looking east 182
XLVII. (1) The Interior, looking north-east.
(2) The Interior, looking south-east 184
XLVIII. (1) The Lower Part of the North Side of the East
End.
(2) The Upper Part of the North Side of the East End 186
XLIX. (1) South Eikon Frame. (2) Detail in the South
Eikon Frame 188
L. (1) The Interior, looking west.
(2) A Capital on the Column at the Entrance to
the Church 190
CHURCH OF SS. PETER AND MARK
LI. (1) The Church from the south-east. (2) Font
outside the Church 192
LII. (1) The Dome, looking north.
(2) Looking across the Dome, from the south-west 194
CHURCH OF THE MYRELAION
LIII. (1) The South Side of the Church.
(2) The Narthex, looking north 196
LIV. (1) The Interior, looking east.
(2) The south-west Angle of the Cross 198
LV. (1) S. John in Trullo from the south-west.
(2) The Interior of Balaban Mesjedi 202
LVI. The Church of S. Thekla.
(1) From the north-west.
(2) The East End 208
THE CHURCH OF S. SAVIOUR PANTEPOPTES
LVII. (1) Door leading from the Outer to the Inner
Narthex.
(2) The Dome, looking west 212
LVIII. (1) Decoration in Brick on the Exterior of the
South Wall.
(2) Bracket in the Parecclesion of
S. Mary Pammakaristos 214
CHURCH OF S. SAVIOUR PANTOKRATOR
LIX. The Church from the west 220
LX. (1) The Church from the north-west.
(2) Fragments of Sculptured Marbles found in
the Church 222
LXI. (1) Interior of the South Church, looking east.
(2) The Southern Arm of the Church 224
LXII. (1) Entrance from the Narthex to the South Church.
(2) Interior, looking from the South Church
through into the North Church 226
LXIII. (1) The Gallery in the North Church, looking
south. (2) Interior of the North Church,
looking east 228
LXIV. (1) Arch in the North Wall of the South Church,
seen from the South Church, looking north.
(2) Arch in the North Wall of the South Church,
seen from the Central Church, looking south 230
LXV. (1) Narthex of the North Church, looking north.
(2) Outer Narthex of the South Church, looking
north 232
LXVI. (1) South Bay in the Gallery of the South Church.
(2) View in the North Church, looking south 234
LXVII. (1) The Pulpit in the South Church.
(2) West Side of the Central Bay in the Gallery of
the South Church 236
LXVIII. (1) Interior of the East Dome in the Central
Church.
(2) Interior of the Dome in the South Church,
looking north 238
LXIX. (1) The East End from the south.
(2) East Window of the Central Church.
(3) The East End from the north 242
CHURCH OF S. THEODORE
LXX. (1) The North End of the Western Facade.
(2) The Church from the north-west 244
LXXI. (1) The Central Dome from the south. (2) The
Western Facade from the south 246
LXXII. (1) The South Cross Arm (exterior) from
the south-east. (2) The East End from
the south 248
LXXIII. (1) The Capital on the Southernmost Column
in the Facade.
(2) Capital in the Facade 250
LXXIV. (1) The Outer Narthex, looking north.
(2) Capital on the North Side of the Door
leading from the Outer to the Inner
Narthex 254
LXXV. (1) The Interior, looking east.
(2) The Interior (upper part), looking east 256
THE REFECTORY OF THE MONASTERY OF MANUEL
LXXVI. (1) From the west.
(2) From the south-east 258
LXXVII. Cistern of Aetius 262
CHURCH OF THE GASTRIA
LXXVIII. (1) The Church from the east.
(2) The Entrance 268
LXXIX. (1) The Church from the west. (2) The Interior 270
BOGDAN SERAI
LXXX. (1) The Apse in the Upper Chapel.
(2) A Pendentive of the Dome.
(3) The Chapel, from the north-west 280
CHURCH OF S. SAVIOUR IN THE CHORA
LXXXI. (1) The Church from the west.
(2) The Church from the south-east 288
LXXXII. (1) The Church from the north-east.
(2) The North Side of the Church 292
LXXXIII. (1) The Inner Narthex, looking south.
(2) Another View of the same 296
LXXXIV. (1) A Capital in the Outer Narthex.
(2) Another Capital in the Outer Narthex 300
LXXXV. (1) The Interior, looking north-west.
(2) The Outer Narthex, looking south 304
LXXXVI. (1) The Eikon Frame on the South-eastern Pier.
(2) The Interior, looking east 308
LXXXVII. (1) The Cornice above the Main Door (on the
Interior).
(2) The Archivolt on the North Wall of the
Parecclesion.
(3) Window Heads in the Central Apse 310
LXXXVIII. (1) The East End of the Parecclesion. (2) A Capital
at the Entrance to the Parecclesion 314
LXXXIX. (1) The Parecclesion, looking south-east.
(2) The Parecclesion, looking west 316
XC. (1) Mosaic representing the Miracle of Water turned
into Wine.
(2) Mosaic representing Mary caressed by her parents,
and blessed by priests seated at a banquet 322
XCI. (1) Mosaic representing the Registration of Mary
and Joseph at Bethlehem.
(2) Mosaic representing Theodore Metochites offering
the Church to Christ 326
XCII. The Archivolt on the South Wall of the Parecclesion,
with the Epitaph in honour of Tornikes 330
CHAPTER I
BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE
I. PLANNING
At the beginning of the fifth century, which is a suitable point from
which to date the rise of Byzantine architecture, three principal types
of church plan prevailed in the Roman world:--
I. The Basilica: an oblong hall divided into nave and aisles, and roofed
in wood, as in the Italian and Salonican examples, or with stone
barrel-vaults, as in Asia Minor and Central Syria.
II. The Octagonal or Circular plan covered with a stone or brick dome, a
type which may be subdivided according as (1) the dome rests upon the
outer walls of the building, or (2) on columns or piers surrounded by an
ambulatory.
The Pantheon and the so-called Temple of Minerva Medica at Rome are
early examples of the first variety, the first circular, the second a
decagon in plan. S. George at Salonica is a later circular example. An
early instance of the second variety is found in S. Constanza at Rome,
and a considerable number of similar churches occur in Asia Minor,
dating from the time of Constantine the Great or a little later.
III. The Cross plan. Here we have a square central area covered by a
dome, from which extend four vaulted arms constituting a cross. This
type also assumes two distinct forms:
(1) Buildings in which the ground plan is cruciform, so that the cross
shows externally at the ground level. Churches of this class are usually
small, and were probably sepulchral chapels rather than churches for
public worship. A good example is the tomb of Galla Placidia at Ravenna.
(2) In the second form of the Cross church the cross is enclosed within
a square, and appears only above the roofs of the angle chambers. An
example is seen in the late Roman tomb at Kusr en Nueijis in Eastern
Palestine. In this instance the central square area is covered with a
dome on continuous pendentives; the four arms have barrel-vaults, and
the angles of the cross are occupied by small chambers, which bring the
ground-plan to the square. The building is assigned to the second
century, and shows that true though continuous pendentives were known at
an early date[10] (Fig. 8).
Another example is the Praetorium at Musmiyeh, in Syria,[11] which
probably dates from between 160 and 169 A.D. At some later time it was
altered to a church, and by a curious foreshadowing of the late
Byzantine plan the walls of the internal cross have entirely disappeared
from the ground-plan. The dome rests on four columns placed at the inner
angles of the cross, and the vaulted cross arms rest on lintels spanning
the space between the columns and the outer walls.
From these three types of building are derived the various schemes on
which the churches of the Byzantine Empire were planned.
Of the basilican form the only example in Constantinople that retains
its original plan is S. John the Baptist of the Studion (p. 56), erected
_c._ 463 A.D.
The church of SS. Sergius and Bacchus (p. 70) and the baptistery of S.
Sophia (p. 78) represent respectively the two varieties of the octagonal
plan. In the former the dome rests on piers surrounded by an ambulatory;
in the latter the dome rests upon the outer walls of the buildings. Both
are foundations of Justinian the Great.
Of the Cross church plan showing the cross externally at the ground
level no example survives in the city. But at least one church of that
form was seen at Constantinople in the case of the church of the Holy
Apostles. This was essentially a mausoleum, built originally by
Constantine the Great and reconstructed by Justinian to contain the
sarcophagi of the sovereigns and the patriarchs of New Rome.[12]
The church of S. Mark at Venice was built on the plan of the Holy
Apostles. It is a cruciform church with aisles, but the galleries which
might have been expected above them are omitted. The central dome rests
on four piers, and four smaller domes cover the arms.
Professor Strzygowski gives examples of cross-planned cells in the
catacombs of Palmyra,[13] and in many Eastern rock tombs.[14] Such cross
plans are found also in the Roman catacombs. These subterranean chapels,
of course, do not show the external treatment, yet there can be little
doubt that the external cross plan was originally sepulchral, and owes
its peculiar system of planning to that fact. On the other hand, it was
adopted in such churches as S. Mark's at Venice and in the French
examples of Perigord for aesthetic or traditional reasons.
In passing now to a consideration of the distinct forms developed from
these pre-Byzantine types of church building, the classification adopted
by Professor Strzygowski may be followed. In his _Kleinasien_ he has
brought forward a series of buildings which show the manner in which a
dome was fitted to the oblong basilica, producing the domed basilica
(_Kuppelbasilica_), an evolution which he regards as Hellenistic and
Eastern. In contrast to this, Strzygowski distinguishes the domed cross
church (_Kreuzkuppelkirche_), of which S. Theodosia in Constantinople
(p. 170) is the typical example and which is a Western development. A
comparison of the two forms is of great importance for the study of
certain Constantinople churches.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--KASR IBN WARDAN (Strzygowski).]
The domed basilica, as the name indicates, is a basilica with nave and
aisles, in which a square bay in the centre of the nave is covered by a
dome on pendentives. To north and south, within the arches supporting
the dome, appear the nave and gallery arcades of the basilica; and as
the galleried basilica is a usual Eastern form galleries are usual in
the domed basilica. As seen from the central area, therefore, the north
and south dome arches are filled in with arcades in two stories, and the
side aisles and galleries are covered with barrel vaults running
parallel to the axis of the church. At the west end a gallery over the
narthex may unite the two side galleries. At Kasr ibn Wardan, instanced
by Strzygowski as a typical domed basilica,[15] there is such a western
gallery (Fig. 1). According to Strzygowski the domed basilica is older
than the fifth century.
The domed basilica remains always an oblong building, and whilst the two
sides to north and south are symmetrical, the western end retains the
basilican characteristics--it has no gallery or arcade communicating
with the central area. The narthex communicates with the nave by doors,
and if a gallery is placed above it, both narthex and gallery are
covered by barrel vaults.
In the domed cross church (_Kreutzkueppelkirche_) the central dome rests
on barrel vaults which extend to the outer walls of the building and
form the arms of the cross, the eastern arm forming the bema. The
lighting of the church is by windows in the gable walls which terminate
the north, south, and west cross arms. The prothesis and diaconicon open
off the side arms, and two small chambers in the western angles of the
cross bring the plan externally to the usual rectangular form.
The domed cross church may have galleries, as in S. Theodosia (p. 170),
or may be without them, as in SS. Peter and Mark (p. 193). Where
galleries are present they are placed in the cross arms and are
supported by arcades at the ground level. The vaults beneath the
galleries are cross-groined. The domed cross church is a centrally
planned church, in contrast to the domed basilica, which is oblong, and
therefore we should expect that where galleries are used they will be
formed in all three arms of the cross, as is the case in S. Theodosia.
There are a number of churches which vary from these types, but which
can generally be placed in one class or the other by the consideration
of two main characteristics: if the dome arches extend to the outer
walls the building is a domed cross church; if the galleries are
screened off from the central area by arcades the building is a domed
basilica.
The church at Dere Aghsy,[16] for instance, if we had only the plan to
guide us, would appear to be a typical domed basilica (Fig. 2), but on
examining the section we find that the north and south dome arches
extend over the galleries to the outer walls and form cross arms (Fig.
3). The building is, in fact, a domed cross church with no gallery in
the western arm. Above the narthex at the west end, and separated from
the western cross arm, is a gallery of the type usual in the domed
basilica, so that Dere Aghsy may be regarded as a domed cross church
with features derived from the domed basilica. S. Sophia at
Constantinople, the highest development of the domed basilica, has a
very similar western gallery.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--DERE AGHSY (Rott).]
The church of S. Nicholas at Myra[17] (Fig. 4) has a gallery at the west
end, but the cross arms do not appear to be carried over the galleries.
The plan is oblong and the cross-groined vault is not used. The church,
therefore, takes its place as a domed basilica.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--DERE AGHSY--SECTION (Rott).]
The church of the Koimesis at Nicaea[18] (Figs. 5 and 6) has no
galleries to the sides. The aisles open into the central area by
arcades, above which are triple windows over the aisle vaults. At the
western end is a gallery above the narthex. The aisles are
barrel-vaulted, and as the church is planned on an axis from east to
west, and is not symmetrical on all three sides, it is regarded as a
domed basilica. It is such a form as might be developed from a basilica
without galleries.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--S. NICHOLAS, MYRA (Rott).]
In Constantinople there are three churches which seem to constitute a
type apart, though resembling in many ways the types just considered.
They are S. Andrew in Krisei, (p. 117), S. Mary Pammakaristos (p. 150),
and S. Mary Panachrantos (p. 130). In these churches, as originally
built, the central dome is carried on four arches which rise above a
one-storied aisle or ambulatory, allowing of windows in the dome arches
on three sides--the eastern dome arch being prolonged to form the bema.
The dome arches have arcades communicating with the ambulatory on the
north, south, and west. The vaulting is executed either with barrel or
with cross-groined vaults. These churches are evidently planned from a
centre, not, like the domed basilicas, from a longitudinal axis. At the
same time the absence of any cross arms differentiates them from the
domed cross churches. S. Andrew, which still retains its western arcade,
dates from at least the sixth century, so that the type was in use
during the great period of Byzantine architecture. Indeed, we should be
inclined to regard S. Andrew as a square form of SS. Sergius and
Bacchus, but without galleries. The type is a natural development from
the octagonal domed church with its surrounding ambulatory.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--THE CHURCH OF THE KOIMESIS, NICAEA (Wulf).]
The typical late Byzantine church is a development from the domed cross
plan. In three examples in Constantinople, S. Theodosia (pp. 170, 172),
S. Mary Diaconissa (p. 185), and SS. Peter and Mark (p. 193), we can
trace the gradual disappearance of the galleries. S. Theodosia, as has
already been mentioned, has galleries in all three cross arms. In S.
Mary Diaconissa they are confined to the four angles between the cross
arms; SS. Peter and Mark is a simple cross plan without galleries. In
later times it became customary to build many small churches, with the
result that the chambers at the angles of the cross, of little account
even in a large church, were now too diminutive to be of any value, and
the question how to provide as much room as possible for the worshippers
became paramount. Accordingly the dome piers were reduced to mere
columns connected with the outer walls of the building by arches; and
thus was produced the typical late Byzantine plan--at the ground level a
square, enclosing four columns; above, a Greek cross with a dome on the
centre.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--THE CHURCH OF THE KOIMESIS, NICAEA (Rott).]
From its distinguishing feature this type has been styled the 'four
column' plan. It appears in many Constantinopolitan churches, as, for
example, S. Theodore (p. 248) and S. Saviour Pantepoptes (p. 214). The
cross arms are not always equal, and may be covered with barrel vaults
(p. 214) or with cross-groined vaults (p. 198). The bema is usually a
bay added to the eastern arm. The angle chambers have either
cross-groined vaults or flat dome vaults. In general the churches of
this type in Constantinople do not differ from the numerous churches of
the same class in the provinces.[19]
A lobed cruciform plan is found in only one church in Constantinople,
that of S. Mary of the Mongols (p. 277). Here the central dome is
supported on four piers set across the angles of the square, so that the
pendentives do not come to a point as usual, but spring from the face of
the piers. Against each side of the square a semi-dome is set, thus
producing a quatrefoil plan at the vaulting level.
Both trefoiled and quatrefoiled churches are not uncommon in Armenia,
such as the cathedral at Etschmiadzin;[20] trefoiled churches of a later
date are found in the western provinces, and examples have been
published from Servia,[21] Salonica,[22] and Greece.[23]
An unusual form of the cross plan is seen in the building known as
Sanjakdar Mesjedi (p. 267), where a cross is placed within an octagon.
Probably the building was not originally a church. It resembles the
octagon near the Pantokrator (p. 270), and may, like it, have been a
library.
_Single Hall Churches._--The plans hitherto considered have all been
characterised by the presence of aisles, galleries, or other spaces
adjoining the central area. The churches of the present class consist
simply of an oblong hall, terminating in an apse, and either roofed in
wood, or covered with domes placed longitudinally, and resting to north
and south on wall arches. Examples of this plan are found in Monastir
Mesjedi (p. 264), S. Thekla (p. 211), Bogdan Serai (p. 284), and in the
memorial chapels attached to the Pantokrator (p. 235), and the Chora (p.
309). In the case of these two memorial chapels, their narrow,
long-stretched plan is evidently due to the desire to keep their eastern
apses in line with the east end of the churches they adjoin, and at the
same time to bring the western end to the narthex from which they were
entered. They are covered with two domes, a system perhaps derived from
S. Irene (p. 94). Kefele Mesjedi (p. 257), which at first sight
resembles a single hall church roofed, in wood, was a refectory. Its
plan may be compared with that of the refectory at the monastery of S.
Luke at Stiris.[24]
II. ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES AND DETAILS
_Apses._--A fully developed Byzantine church terminated in three apses:
a large apse, with the bema or presbytery, in the centre; on the right,
the apse of the prothesis where the sacrament was prepared; on the left,
the apse of the diaconicon, where the sacred vessels were kept. Although
there is proof that the prothesis and the diaconicon were in use at a
very early period, yet many churches of the great period, as for example
S. John of the Studion, SS. Sergius and Bacchus, and S. Sophia,
dispensed with these chambers as distinct parts of the building. They
were also omitted in small churches of a late date, where they were
replaced by niches on either side of the bema. The three apses usually
project from the east wall of the church, but occasionally (p. 248) the
two lateral apses are sunk in the wall, and only the central apse shows
on the exterior. As a rule the apses are circular within and polygonal
without. It is rare to find them circular on both the interior and the
exterior (p. 203), and in Greece such a feature is generally an
indication of late date. An octagonal plan, in which three sides of the
octagon appear, sometimes with short returns to the wall, is the most
common; but in later churches polygons of more sides are used,
especially for the central apse, and these are often very irregularly
set out. Some of the churches of Constantinople show five, and even
seven sides.
_Bema._--The bema is rectangular, and sometimes has concave niches on
each side (p. 130). It is covered either with a barrel or with a
cross-groined vault, and communicates with the prothesis and the
diaconicon.
_Prothesis and Diaconicon._--These chambers are either square (p. 214)
or have a long limb to the east resembling a miniature bema (p. 214).
They are lower than the central apse and the cross arms, so that the
cruciform figure of the church shows clearly above them on the
exterior,[25] though in some churches with galleries small chapels
overlooking the bema are placed above them at the gallery level (S.
Theodosia). They have usually a niche on three sides, and are either
dome vaulted or have cross-groined vaults. The combination of a
cross-groined vault with four niches springing from the vaulting level
is particularly effective. In S. Saviour in the Chora (p. 307) these
chambers are covered with drum domes, pierced with windows, but this
treatment is quite exceptional.
_The Gynecaeum._--In the development of church building, the gynecaeum,
or gallery for women, tends to become less and less important. In S.
Sophia, S. Irene, and S. Theodosia, the gallery is a part of the
structure. In S. Mary Diaconissa (p. 185) it is reduced to four boxes at
the angles of the cross, while in S. Mary Pammakaristos and SS. Peter
and Mark it is absent (pp. 149, 193). But though no longer a structural
part of the church, a gynecaeum appears over the narthex in the latest
type of church (p. 215). It is generally vaulted in three bays,
corresponding to the three bays of the narthex below, and opens by three
arches into the centre cross arm of the church and into the aisles.
_The Narthex._--Unlike the gynecaeum, the narthex tends in later times
to become of greater importance, and to add a narthex was a favourite
method of increasing the size of a church. In basilican churches, like
S. John of the Studion, the narthex was a long hall in three bays
annexed to the west side of the building, and formed the east side of
the atrium. In domed cross churches with galleries the passage under the
western gallery was used as a narthex, being cut off from the central
area by the screen arcade which supported the gallery. Such a narthex
has been styled a 'structural narthex,' as forming an essential part of
the central building. It occurs in several of the churches of the city
(p. 114).
In domed cross churches without galleries, and in churches of the 'four
column' type, neither narthex nor gallery was possible within the cross,
and accordingly the narthex was added to the west end. It is usually in
three bays and opens into the aisles and central area. Frequently the
ends of the narthex terminate in shallow niches (p. 198). In many
churches a second narthex was added (p. 166) to the first, sometimes
projecting an additional bay at each end, and communicating with halls
or chapels on the north or south, or on both sides of the church (p.
128). S. Mark's at Venice presents a fine example of such an extension
of the narthex.
When a church could not be sufficiently enlarged by additional
narthexes, a second church was built alongside the first, and both
churches were joined by a narthex which extended along the front of the
two buildings. S. Mary Panachrantos (p. 128) is a good example of how a
church could be thus enlarged from a simple square building into a maze
of passages and domes.
_The Interior._--The natural division, in height, of an early church,
whether basilican or domical, was into three stories--the ground level,
the gallery level, and the clearstory or vault level. In the West these
structural divisions were developed into the triple composition of
nave-arcade, triforium, and clearstory. In the East, in conjunction with
the dome, these divisions survive in many examples of the later period.
Still, Byzantine architecture was more concerned with spaces than with
lines. Large surfaces for marble, painting, or mosaic were of prime
importance, and with the disappearance of the gallery the string-course
marking the level of the gallery also tended to disappear. In churches
with galleries, like S. Theodosia (p. 170) and S. Mary Diaconissa (p.
185), the string-courses fulfil their function, the first marking the
gallery level, the second the springing of the vault. In SS. Peter and
Mark (p. 193), which has no gallery, there is only one string-course,
corresponding in level to the original gallery string-course;
accordingly the main arches are highly stilted above it. The absence of
the second string-course is a faulty development, for a string-course at
the vault level would be a functional member, whereas at the gallery
level it is meaningless.
In the Panachrantos (p. 130), as well as in other churches without a
gallery, the gallery string-course is omitted by a more logical
development, and the string-course at the springing of the vault is
retained. Openings which do not cut into the vault are then frankly
arched, without impost moulding of any kind. Simple vaulted halls,
narthexes, and passages have usually a string-course at the vaulting
level, broken round shallow pilasters as at the Chora, S. Theodosia, and
the Myrelaion. Sometimes the string-courses or the pilasters or both are
omitted, and their places are respectively taken by horizontal and
vertical bands. Decorative pilasters flush with the wall are employed in
the marble incrustation of S. Sophia.
In churches of the 'four column' type the full triple division is common
but with a change in purpose. A gallery in a church of this character is
not possible, for the piers between which the gallery was placed have
dwindled into single shafts. Hence the first string-course ceases to
mark a gallery level and becomes the abacus level of the dome columns,
as in the north and in the south churches of the Pantokrator. It is then
carried round the building, and forms the impost moulding of the side
arches in the bema and of the east window. Sometimes, however, it does
not extend round the bema and apse but is confined to the central part
of the church, as in the Myrelaion, S. Theodore, and the Pantepoptes. On
the other hand, in at least one case, the parecclesion of the
Pammakaristos, the central part of the chapel is designed in the usual
three tiers, but the apse and bema vaults spring from the lower or
abacus string-course, leaving a lunette in the dome arch above pierced
by a large window. A corresponding lunette at the west end opens into
the gynecaeum of the chapel. In S. John in Trullo the two
string-courses coalesce and the arches connecting the columns with the
walls cut into the stilted part of the dome arches, with the result that
all the structural arches and vaults spring from the same level.
[Illustration: FIG. 7. (Map of BYZANTINE CONSTANTINOPLE)]
_Arches._--Though the pointed arch was known and employed in cisterns,
as in the Cistern of the One Thousand and One Columns, Bin-bir-derek,
the circular arch is invariably found in work meant to be seen. The
difficulty attending this form, in which arches of unequal breadth do
not rise to the same height, was overcome, as in the West, by stilting,
that is, by raising the smaller arches on straight 'legs' to the
required height. The stilted arch, indeed, seems to have been admired
for its own sake, as we find it used almost universally both in vaulting
and in decorative arches even where it was not structurally required. In
windows and in the arches connecting the dome columns to the wall
stilting is sometimes carried to extremes.
_Domes._--The eastern dome of S. Irene, erected about 740 A.D., is
generally considered to be the first example of a dome built on a high
drum, though S. Sophia of Salonica, an earlier structure, has a low
imperfect drum. After this date the characteristics of the Byzantine
dome are the high drum divided by ribs or hollow segments on the
interior, polygonal on the exterior, and crowned by a cornice which is
arched over the windows.[26]
Drumless domes are sometimes found in the later churches, as in the
narthexes of the Panachrantos and S. Andrew, the angle domes of S.
Theodosia, and in Bogdan Serai. These are ribless hemispherical domes of
the type shown in Fig. 8, and are in all cases without windows. The
earlier system of piercing windows through the dome does not occur in
the later churches, though characteristic of Turkish work.
The three diagrams (Figs. 8, 9, and 10) illustrate the development of
the dome: firstly, the low saucer dome or dome-vault in which dome and
pendentives are part of the same spherical surface; secondly, the
hemispherical dome on pendentives; and thirdly, the hemispherical dome
with a drum interposed between it and the pendentives.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--THE SAUCER DOME OR DOME-VAULT.]
Flat external cornices on the dome are not uncommon in the later
churches of Byzantine Greece, as in S. Sophia at Monemvasia.[27] In
Constantinople only one dome with a flat cornice can be regarded as
original, that of S. John in Trullo, a church which is exceptional also
in other respects. The many other domes in the churches of
Constantinople on high drums and with flat cornices are Turkish either
in whole or in part. The high ribless domes of the Panachrantos, for
instance, circular in plan within and without, with square-headed
windows, plain stone sill, and flat cornice in moulded plaster, may be
regarded as typical Turkish drum-domes. As will appear in the sequel,
the dome over the north church of the Pantokrator and the domes of SS.
Peter and Mark, the Diaconissa, and S. Theodosia, are also Turkish.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--THE DOME ON PENDENTIVES.]
It is most unfortunate that the domes of these three domed cross
churches have been altered, especially as the domes of S. Mary
Diaconissa and S. Theodosia are larger than any of the later domes
except the large oval dome on the central church of the Pantokrator
which is almost of the same size. It is therefore now difficult to say
what was the precise form of the original domes. Most probably they were
polygonal drum-domes, and their collapse owing to their size may well
have led to the small drum-domes of later times. Though not strictly
Byzantine these Turkish domes are of interest as showing the development
of Byzantine forms under Turkish rule, and that reversion to the earlier
drumless dome which is so marked a feature of the imperial mosques of
the city.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--THE DRUM DOME.]
Domes are either eight, twelve, or sixteen sided, and usually have a
window in each side. These numbers arise naturally from setting a window
at each of the cardinal points and then placing one, two, or three
windows between, according to the size of the dome. Internally the
compartments are separated by broad, flat ribs, or are concave and form
a series of ridges on the dome which die out towards the crown. In
sixteen-sided domes of the latter type the alternate sides sometimes
correspond to the piers outside, so that the dome which has sixteen
sides within shows only eight sides without, as in the narthex of S.
Theodore (p. 246). The octagonal dome of the Myrelaion (p. 198) seems
to have had only four windows from the beginning.
The ribs of a Byzantine dome are not constructive in the same way as are
the ribs of a Gothic vault. They were built along with the rest of the
dome and of the same material, and are in no way separate from the
infilling, though they no doubt strengthened the shell of the dome by
their form[28]. On the outside a circular shaft with a very simple cap
is often placed at the angles of the piers, and from these shafts the
brick cornice springs in a series of arches over the windows. Sometimes
the angle is formed by a point between two half-shafts, as in the domes
of the narthex in S. Theodore (p. 246).
_External Treatment._--In the older churches the exterior seems to have
been left in simple masses of brickwork, impressive only by their size
and proportion. Probably even this effect was not considered of great
importance. In later times a very beautiful system of decoration with
slender shallow niches was introduced and was applied in particular to
the east end and to the apses. The finest examples of this system on a
large scale are seen at the Pantokrator (p. 235) and S. Theodosia (p.
173). Carefully considered or elaborate external compositions are rare,
and the only examples in Constantinople are the side chapel of the
Pammakaristos (p. 154) and the narthex of S. Theodore (p. 246).
_External Marble and Mosaic._--Marble and mosaic, we have reason to
know, were occasionally used on the exterior of churches,[29] though no
fragments remain. On the south side of the Pantepoptes (p. 216) the
string-course does not correspond to the line of the walls, but projects
in a manner which shows that marble must have been employed to line the
large windows. A similar projection of the string-course or cornice is
not uncommon elsewhere, though not so evident as in the Pantepoptes, and
may have been made to receive a marble or mosaic lining.
_Doors and Windows._--It is a primary rule in Byzantine architecture
that all constructive openings are arched. Whatever may be the eventual
form of a door or window the opening is first built in brick with a
semicircular head, and into this opening the marble jambs and lining are
fitted leaving a semicircular lunette above. Doors are square-headed,
with heavily moulded architraves and cornice, and the lintel is mitred
into the jambs instead of having the more constructive horizontal joint
used in the West.
The doors made of wood or of wood lined with bronze, swing on top and
bottom pivots which turned in bronze-lined sockets in lintel and
threshold. They closed with a rebate in the jambs and against the raised
threshold. Windows were sometimes filled in a similar manner, as in the
palace of the Porphyrogenitus and in the north gallery of S. Saviour in
the Chora (Fig. 100). In the latter double windows or shutters were
employed, opening inwards in the same way as did the doors. These
shutters may perhaps be regarded as domestic, for in the churches, as is
still seen in S. Sophia though the arrangement has vanished elsewhere,
the entire arched opening was usually filled in with a pierced marble
grille.
In addition to the simple round-headed windows double and triple windows
are found. Double windows were naturally formed by dividing the single
arch by a central pier. This method presented two varieties: either the
pier was continued up to the containing arch, thus giving two pointed
lights, or the two lights were covered by separate arches within the
main arch. Both methods are used in the narthex of S. Theodore (p. 247).
Another variety was produced by placing two single lights together, with
a shaft between them instead of the central pier. But as double windows
are not very satisfactory, triple windows are more common. In this case
both the methods just described of forming the windows were adopted. A
large semicircular opening divided by two piers will give an arched
light between two pointed lights, or three arched lights, as in the
narthex of S. Theodore. In the former case, if shafts are substituted
for the piers, a little adjustment will produce the beautiful form found
in the side-chapels of the Pammakaristos (p. 152), and of S. Saviour in
the Chora (p. 310), where the two side lights are covered by half-arches
whose crowns abut on the capitals of the shafts, while between and above
them rises the semicircular head of the central light.
The method of grouping three arched windows of the same height is
adopted in apse windows, each of them occupying one side of the
exterior. As the deep, narrow mullions are set radiating, the arch is
narrower inside than outside. But this difficulty was overcome, partly
by lowering the inner crowns, so that the arch is conical, partly by
winding the surface. In the Pantokrator (p. 238), instead of radiating
to the centre of the apse, the side and mullions are placed parallel to
the axis of the church, thus obviating all difficulty. Generally the
centre to which the mullions radiate is considerably beyond the apse, so
that any necessary little adjustment of the arch could easily be made.
Triple windows supported on circular columns are not infrequent in the
north and south cross arms. Sometimes the central light is larger than
the lateral lights, at other times, as in the Pantepoptes, the three
lights are equal. The lower part of these windows was probably filled in
with a breastwork of carved slabs, as in S. Sophia, while the upper part
was filled by a pierced grille. At present the existing examples of
these windows have been built up to the abaci of the capitals, but in
the church of S. Mary Diaconissa (p. 186) the columns still show the
original form on the inside.
_Vaulting._--All Byzantine churches of any importance are vaulted in
brick. The only exception to this rule in Constantinople is the little
church known as Monastir Mesjedi (p. 264). The different systems of
Byzantine vaulting have been so fully treated by Choisy and other
authorities, that in the absence of any large amount of new material it
is not necessary to give here more than a few notes on the application
of these systems in Constantinople. It should always be kept in view
that, as these vaults were constructed with the lightest of centering,
the surfaces and curves must have been largely determined by the mason
as he built, and would not necessarily follow any definite geometrical
development. "Il serait illusoire," remarks Choisy, "d'attribuer a
toutes les voutes byzantines un trace geometrique rigoureusement
defini."[30]
[Illustration: PLATE II.
(1) THE MYRELAION (SINCE IT WAS BURNED), FROM THE NORTH-WEST.
(2) THE MYRELAION (SINCE IT WAS BURNED), FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.
(By kind permission of H. M. Dwight, Esq.)
_To face page 20._]
The vaults commonly found are the barrel vault, the cross-groined vault,
and the dome-vault. The first is frequently used over the cross arms and
the bema, and sometimes over the narthex in conjunction with the groined
vault (Diaconissa). It is the simplest method of covering an oblong
space, but it does not easily admit of side windows above the springing.
A very beautiful form of cross-groined vault is found in S. Sophia and
in SS. Sergius and Bacchus, in which the crown is considerably domed,
and the groins, accordingly, lose themselves in the vaulting surface.
This form is found in Greek churches of late date, but does not occur in
the later churches of Constantinople. A full description of the form and
construction is given by Choisy[31] and by Lethaby and Swainson.[32]
The cross-groined vault as found in the Myrelaion and many other
churches of the city is level in the crown, with clearly marked groins.
It is sometimes used with transverse arches resting on pilasters, or
without these adjuncts.
One of the most interesting of the vault forms is the dome-vault, a
shallow dome with continuous pendentives. It is distinguished in
appearance from the groined vault, as found in S. Sophia, by the absence
of any groin line, and is completely different in construction.
The geometrical construction is that of the pendentives of all domes.
The four supporting arches intersect a hemispherical surface whose
diameter is equal to the diagonal of the supporting square. The
pendentives produce at the crown line of the arches a circular plan
which is filled in by a saucer dome of the same radius as the
pendentives, constructed of circular brick rings, the joints of which
radiate to the centre. If the space to be covered is not square the
broader arches intersect at a higher level, while the narrow arches are
not stilted, but kept down so as to receive the dome surface, and in
this case the narrow arches are not semicircular, but segmental. Where
the difference in size between the two sides was not great, the
difficulty presented was easily overcome by the Byzantine builder, who
in the later buildings, at any rate, rarely built anything within four
inches of its geometrical position. Where the difference was too great
it was frankly accepted, and we find segmental arches at the narrow
ends.
[Illustration: FIG. 11.]
The vaulting of the outer narthex of S. Saviour in the Chora illustrates
this fully (Fig. 11). Though some of the bays of that narthex are oblong
and others almost square all are covered with dome vaults. The almost
square bays, although their sides vary considerably, are covered
precisely as if their sides were exactly equal. But in two of the
oblong bays, which are nearly three times as long as they are broad,
such a method could not be applied. Longitudinal arches (AA) were
accordingly thrown between the transverse arches (CC) and made to rest
on their spandrils. The oblong form of the intervening space was thus
very much reduced, and over it flat domes are thrown. Their rings are
true circles, and as the space they cover is still somewhat oblong they
descend lower, with additional segments of rings (BB), at the ends than
at the sides. In the remaining two oblong bays of the narthex, the
result of introducing the longitudinal arches is to convert a decidedly
oblong space in one direction into a slightly oblong space in the
opposite direction, an additional proof, if any were needed, that the
exact shape of plan with this form of vault was a matter of comparative
indifference to the builder.
In S. Sophia the vault springs from the intrados of the transverse
arches, that is, from the lower edge. In SS. Sergius and Bacchus it
springs from a point so slightly raised as to be hardly noticeable. In
the later vaults, however, the transverse arches, when present, are
boldly shown, and the vault springs from the extrados or outer edge
(_e.g._ S. Saviour in the Chora, S. Theodore).
_Construction._--Most of the churches of the city are covered with thick
coats of plaster and whitewash, both within and without. Only in a few
cases, where these coatings have fallen away through neglect, or in some
remote corner of a building to which these coatings were never applied,
can the construction and the laying of the brickwork be studied. The
two-storied chapel, known as Bogdan Serai (p. 283), is almost denuded of
plaster, and is therefore of importance in this connection. The bricks
of the wall arches on which its dome rests are laid considerably flatter
than the true radiating line, leaving a triangular piece to be filled in
at the crown. On the other hand, the bricks of the transverse arches
under the dome radiate to the centre.
It has been supposed that the method followed in the wall arches was
employed in order to economise centering, since bricks could gradually
be worked out over the space, each course simply sticking to the one
below. This is undoubtedly the case in some examples. But here centering
could not have been of any service in the wall arches, and the
transverse arches are laid without flattening of the courses, though
that arrangement might have been useful in their case. It is therefore
more probable that the flattening of the courses in the wall arches is
simply a piece of careless workmanship. The pendentives, like all
pendentives that could be examined, were formed of horizontal courses
corbelled out to the circle. The dome, bema, and the barrel vault in the
lower story (p. 285) seem to be laid with true radiating joints. The
springing of the barrel vault is formed of four courses of stone laid
horizontally and cut to the circle, and above them the entire barrel is
of brick. The dome arches of the Sanjakdar Mesjedi (p. 270) are formed
of three distinct rings, not bonded into one another. They radiate to
the true centre, and the pendentives are, as usual, in horizontal
courses. The transverse arches of the outer narthex in S. Saviour in the
Chora are also built with true radiating courses.
The gynecaeum of the side-chapel of the Pammakaristos (p. 153) has never
been plastered, and consequently the laying of the brickwork can be seen
there to advantage. The little stair leading up to the gallery is
covered with a sloping barrel vault built in segments perpendicular to
the slope of the stair and could easily have been built without
centering. The same remark applies to the cross vault at the head of the
stair, which is similarly constructed in 'slices' parallel to each side
(p. 154). The arches of the gynecaeum itself, the vaults, and the two
little domes, seem to have true radiating joints. The ribs of the domes
are formed in the brickwork, and are not structurally separate. In these
last examples, and in all door and window openings, in which the joints
invariably radiate from the centre, a certain amount of centering was
inevitable.
[Illustration: PLATE III.
(1) THE MYRELAION (SINCE IT WAS BURNT). INTERIOR, LOOKING EAST.
(By kind permission of H. M. Dwight, Esq.)
(2) SULEIMAN AGA MESJEDI, BESIDE S. SAVIOUR PANTOKRATOR.
_To face page 24._]
On the other hand a little passage in S. Saviour in the Chora between
the church and the parecclesion (p. 311), is covered with a barrel vault
evidently built without centering. The space is first narrowed by two
corbelled courses of stone and, above them, by three projecting courses
of brick. From this springs the vault, built from each end in strongly
inclined segments. These segments meet in the middle, leaving a
diamond-shaped space filled in with longitudinal courses. Like the
stairs in the Pammakaristos, this passage is very narrow, some 85 cm.,
yet the builders thought it necessary to corbel out five courses before
venturing to throw a vault without centering.
Near the Pantokrator is an octagonal building, now Suleiman Aga Mesjedi
but generally regarded as a Byzantine library, which has on each side
a large wall arch strongly elliptical in form (p. 270). Two arches of
somewhat similar form and apparently original are found in the south end
of the gynecaeum of the Pantokrator (p. 237). These arches may have been
built in this manner to economise centering. Still, in the library they
are wall arches easily constructed without centering.
Failing the examination of a larger number of buildings in
Constantinople we can hardly judge of the later methods of vault and
arch construction, but one point may be further noticed. The wall
internally is often set back slightly at each spring course, so that
with the projection of the course a considerable ledge or shelf is left.
On this ledge centering could easily be supported and would have
required no further framework to the ground. Centering seems to have
been used for dorm, arches, vaults, and door and window openings. It was
not used in small vaults. But it is difficult to imagine any method of
constructing such groined vaults as those found in the narthexes of the
Pantokrator without a very considerable amount of centering.
_Ties._--As a general rule tie rods or beams were used, either of iron
or wood. In the latter case they were painted with leaf or fret
ornaments, and were evidently considered as natural features. But large
vaults are often found without such ties as in the narthex of the
Pantokrator. Many churches have ties to the dome-arches, and none to the
main vault; but it is difficult to lay down a fixed rule. The enormous
amount of mortar in the walls must have made them yield to a certain
degree when newly built, and some of the larger vaults would have been
the better for rods.
_Abutments._--The system of abutments in the Byzantine churches of the
great period has been carefully studied by M. Choisy.[33] In early
examples the dome springs directly from the pendentives on the inside,
but is thickened externally over the haunches, producing a double curve
and an apparent drum. This is seen very clearly in SS. Sergius and
Bacchus. In S. Sophia the numerous windows are cut through this drum, so
that it resembles rather a series of small abutments. The object was to
support the crown of the dome by adding weight over the haunches. In
both these churches the thrust of the dome and its supporting arches is
taken by the two-storied galleries, which form, in fact, flying
buttresses within the buildings, and are adapted to their architectural
requirements. The square plan and the enormous size of the dome in S.
Sophia demanded the great buttresses on the sides; while in SS. Sergius
and Bacchus the eight buttresses show only on the outside of the dome
and are not carried over the aisles as they are in S. Sophia. Below the
roof the arches and piers of the galleries and aisles are arranged so as
to carry the thrust to the external walls, and following the tradition
of Roman vaulting all buttressing is internal. In S. Irene, where the
true drum dome first appears, the buttresses between the windows of the
dome still remain, though much reduced in size. A dome raised on a drum
can evidently no longer exercise a thrust against the dome-arches; its
thrust must be taken by the drum, and only its weight can rest on the
arches.
The weight of the drum and dome rests on the pendentives and
dome-arches. Their thrust is neutralized by the use of ties and by the
barrel vaults of the cross arms, and these in their turn depend on the
thickness of the walls. The lower buildings attached to the church in
the form of side-chapels and the narthex also helped to stiffen and
buttress the cross walls. The system is by no means perfect in these
late churches. It was apparently found impossible to construct drum
domes of any size, except at the extreme risk of their falling in, and
probably it is for this reason that many of the larger domes in late
churches, like SS. Peter and Mark, S. Theodosia, the Chora, have fallen.
No system of chainage appears to have been used for domes in
Constantinople.
Flying buttresses probably of the ninth century are used at the west end
of S. Sophia. The double-flying buttress to the apse of the Chora does
not bond with the building and is certainly not original. It may be set
down as part of the Byzantine restoration of the church in the
fourteenth century. In any case, such external flying abutments are
alien to the spirit of Byzantine architecture, and may be regarded as an
importation from the West. Flying buttresses, it may here be noted, are
not uncommon in the great mosques of the city. They are found in Sultan
Bayazid, Rustem Pasha, Sultan Selim, the Suleimanieh, and the Shahzade.
But they are generally trifling in size, and are rather ornaments than
serious attempts to buttress the dome.
_Walls._--The walls of the earlier churches are built of large thin
bricks laid with mortar joints at least as thick as the bricks, and
often of greater thickness. Stone is used only in special cases, as in
the main piers of S. Sophia, but monolithic marble columns are an
important part of the structure. In the later churches stone is used in
courses with the bricks to give a banded effect, and herring-bone,
diamond, and radiating patterns are frequently introduced. The palace of
the Porphyrogenitus, the parecclesion of the Pammakaristos, and Bogdan
Serai, exhibit this style of work. As illustrations of the method
adopted in the construction of walls the following measurements may be
given, the sizes being in centimetres:
+---------------------------------------+----------+--------------+
| | Brick. | Joint. |
+---------------------------------------+----------+--------------+
| Parecclesion of the Pammakaristos | .08 | .04 |
| 4 courses brick, 5 joints | .46 | --- |
| S. John in Trullo | .03 | .07 to .09 |
| Refectory of the Monastery of Manuel | .04 | .04 to .06 |
| 4 course stone, 3 joints | .78 | --- |
| 4 courses brick, 5 joints | .30 | --- |
| | { .0375 | .052 |
| Bogdan Serai | { .035 | .035 |
| | { .04 | .04 |
| 4 courses stone, 8 joints | --- | .55 to .60 |
| 4 courses brick, 5 joints | --- | .43 to .47 |
| Sanjakdar, brick | .045 | --- |
+---------------------------------------+----------+--------------+
_Building Procedure._--The first step in the erection of a building was
to obtain the necessary marble columns with their capitals and bases.
These seem to have been largely supplied ready made, and Constantinople
was a great centre for the manufacture and export of stock architectural
features. Then the main walls were built in brick, the columns were
inserted as required, the vaults were thrown, and the whole building was
left to settle down. Owing to the enormous amount of mortar used this
settling must have been very considerable, and explains why hardly a
plumb wall exists in Constantinople, and why so many vaults show a
pronounced sinking in at the crown or have fallen in and have been
rebuilt. After the walls had set the marble facings, mosaic, and colour
were applied and could be easily adapted to the irregular lines of the
walls.
Byzantine architecture made little use of mouldings. The great extension
of flat and spacious decoration rendered unnecessary, or even
objectionable, any strong line composition. External cornices are in
coursed brick, the alternate courses being laid diagonally so as to form
the characteristic dentil. The richest form is that found in the
Pammakaristos, S. Theodosia, and S. Thekla, where the small dentil
cornice is supported on long tapering corbels, a design suggested by
military machicolations.
[Illustration: PLATE IV.
(1) S. SAVIOUR IN THE CHORA. BRACKET IN THE INNER NARTHEX.
(2) S. THEODORE. SCULPTURED MARBLE SLAB BUILT INTO THE MINARET OF THE
MOSQUE.
(3) S. MARY DIACONISSA. HEADS OF WINDOWS IN SOUTH ARM.
(4) S. MARY DIACONISSA. SCULPTURED SLAB ON THE WEST WALL.
_To face page 28._]
The stone ogee, cavetto, or cavetto and bead cornice is common, but
seems in every case to be Turkish work and is very common in Turkish
buildings. Internal cornices and string-courses are in marble, and are
all of the same type, a splay and fillet. The splayed face is decorated
with upright leaves or with a guilloche band, either carved (in the
Pantepoptes) or painted (in the Chora), the carving as in classic work,
serving only to emphasise the colour. The splay is sometimes slightly
hollowed, sometimes, as in the Chora, worked to an ogee.
_Doors._--Doors often have elaborately moulded architraves and cornice.
In S. John of the Studion (p. 61), the oldest example, the jamb-moulding
has a large half-round on the face, with small ogees and fillets, all on
a somewhat massive scale. The doors of S. Sophia are very similar. The
later mouldings are lighter but the half-round on the face remains a
prominent feature. It is now undercut and reduced in size, and resembles
the Gothic moulding known as the bowtell. This is combined with series
of fillets, small ogees, and cavettos into jamb-moulds of considerable
richness. The cornices are often simply splayed or are formed of a
series of ogees, fillets, and cavettos. The jamb-mouldings are cut
partly on a square and partly on a steep splayed line. In some, the
portion forming the ingo seems to have been regarded as a separated
piece though cut from the solid. If in the doors of the Pantokrator or
the Pantepoptes the line of the inner jamb be continued through the
rebate, it will correspond on the outside with the bowtell moulding, as
though the inner and outer architrave had been cut from one square-edged
block, placing the bowtell at the angle and adding the rebate. This
formation is not followed in S. John of the Studion.
_Carving._--Carving is slight, and is confined to capitals,
string-courses, and the slabs which filled in the lower parts of screens
and windows. Fragments of such slabs are found everywhere. They are
carved with geometrical interlacing and floral patterns, often
encircling a cross or sacred monogram, or with simply a large cross.
Such slabs may be seen still in position in S. Sophia and in the narthex
of S. Theodore. In the latter they are of verd antique, and are finely
carved on both sides. In later times the embargo on figure sculpture
was considerably relaxed. Little figures are introduced in the cornices
of the eikon frames in the Diaconissa (p. 186), and both in the
parecclesion and the outer narthex of the Chora are found many small
busts of angels, saints, and warriors carved with great delicacy. The
carving in the Chora is the finest work of the kind excepting that in S.
Sophia.
_Capitals._--The development of the capital from the Roman form, which
was suitable only for the lintel, to the impost capital shaped to
receive an arch has been well explained by Lethaby and Swainson.
According to these authors Byzantine capitals exhibit seven types.
I. The Impost capital.--It is found in SS. Sergius and Bacchus, the
outer narthex of the Chora, the inner narthex of S. Andrew and
elsewhere. A modification of this type is used in windows. It was
employed throughout the style but especially in early times up to the
sixth century, and again in the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth
centuries.
II. The Melon type.--This is seen on the columns of the lower order in
SS. Sergius and Bacchus and on the columns of the narthex of S.
Theodore, where they have been taken from an older building. The melon
capital was probably not in use after the sixth century.
III. The Bowl capital.--This type is used in the great order of S.
Sophia at Constantinople. It has been thought peculiar to this church,
but the capitals from S. Stephen at Triglia in Bithynia resemble those
of S. Sophia closely. Only the peculiar volutes of the S. Sophia
capitals are absent.[34]
IV. The Byzantine or 'Pseudo-Ionic.'--This is found in the upper order
of SS. Sergius and Bacchus, and in the narthex of S. Andrew. It is an
early type, not used after the sixth century, and its occurrence in S.
Andrew favours the early date assigned to that church.
V. The Bird and Basket.--Found in Constantinople, only in S. Sophia.
VI. The Byzantine Corinthian.--This is the commonest form of capital in
the later churches, and must have been in continuous use from the
earliest date. It occurs in S. John of the Studion, the Diaconissa, the
Chora, and in many other churches. Here the classic form is accurately
adhered to, but, as the curved abacus was unsuitable to the arch, a
large splayed abacus or impost block is placed above the capital. It is
a general feature of the Byzantine capital that it projects at no point
beyond the impost line of the arch, thus differing both from the classic
and the Gothic forms.
VII. The Windblown Acanthus.--This is found in the churches of Salonica
and Ravenna. Three examples are mentioned as seen in Constantinople, two
near the Diaconissa, forming bases for the posts of a wooden porch to a
house; one is the cistern commonly known as the cistern of Pulcheria.
_Window Capitals._--In shafted window of several lights, the impost
piers between the arches are of the full thickness of the wall, but are
very narrow from side to side. Similarly the shafts are almost slabs
placed across the wall, and sometimes, as in the Pammakaristos, are
carved on their narrow faces. The capitals are cubical, of slight
projection at the sides, but spreading widely at the ends, while the
bases closely resemble capitals turned upside down. As with columns, the
joints at base and necking are bedded in sheet lead.
_Floors._--The floors are usually of thick red brick tiles, some .31 cm.
square, or, as in S. Theodore, hexagonal, .34 cm. across by 45 cm. from
point to point. Marble floors were used when possible, inlaid with
patterns, or in slabs surrounded by borders of coloured marbles, as is
still seen in a portion of the floor in the Pantokrator (Fig. 76).
_Decoration._--Of the churches of Constantinople only S. Sophia, S. Mary
Diaconissa, the South Church of the Pantokrator, and the Chora, retain
any considerable part of their original decoration. The first is beyond
our present scope, but from the general tone and atmosphere which still
linger there we are able to appreciate the effect of the same style of
decoration where it survives in less complete form.
The accepted method, as may be observed in the Chora and the Diaconissa,
was to split marble slabs so as to form patterns in the veining, and
then to place them upright on the wall. It is probable that the finest
slabs were first placed in the centre points of the wall, and that other
slabs or borders were then arranged round them. The centre slabs in the
Chora are of exceptional beauty. The usual design consists of a dado of
upright slabs surmounted by panelling to the cornice level, the panels
being outlined with plain or carved beads. In the Diaconissa the notched
dentil form is used for the beads; in the Chora, a 'bead and reel.' The
arches have radiating voussoirs, or, in the Diaconissa, a zigzag
embattled design, found also in S. Demetrius of Salonica, though two
hundred years must have separated the buildings. In the Chora the arch
spandrils and cornice are inlaid with scroll and geometrical designs in
black, white, and coloured marbles.
The surfaces above the cornice and the interior of the domes gleamed
with mosaic, representing, as seen in the Chora, figures on a gold
background. The mosaic cubes are small, measuring 5 mm. to 7 mm., and
are closely set. This is about the same size as the mosaic cubes in S.
Sophia, but smaller than those at Ravenna, which measure about 10 mm.
_Painting._--In the majority of churches this full decoration with
marble and mosaic must have been rendered impossible by the expense, and
accordingly we find examples like the parecclesion at the Chora
decorated with painting, following exactly the tradition of marble and
mosaic. This painting is in tempera on the plaster, and is executed with
a free and bold touch.
_Conclusion._--Byzantine architecture is essentially an art of spaces.
'Architectural' forms, as we are accustomed to think of them, are
noticeably absent, but as compensation, colour was an essential and
inseparable part of the architecture. The builder provided great
uninterrupted spaces broken only by such lines and features as were
structurally necessary--capitals, columns, string-courses, and over
these spaces the artist spread a glittering robe of marble or mosaic.
No school has ever expressed its structure more simply, or given fuller
scope to the artist, whether architect or painter.
Byzantine architecture is not only a school of construction, it is also
a school of painting. Most of the churches of Constantinople have
unfortunately lost the latter part of their personality. They are mere
ghosts, their skeletons wrapped in a shroud of whitewash. Still the
Greek artist retained his skill to the last, and the decorative work of
S. Saviour in the Chora will stand comparison even with the similar work
in S. Sophia.
In Byzantine times the greatness of S. Sophia tended to crush
competition. No other ecclesiastical building approached the 'Great
Church.' But structural ability was only latent, and displayed its old
power again in the erection of the imperial mosques of the early Turkish
Sultans, for they too are monuments of Greek architectural genius.
The origins of Byzantine architecture have been discussed at great
length by Strzygowski, Rivoira, and many other able writers. Much work
still remains to be done in the investigation of the later Roman and
early Byzantine work; nor does it seem probable that the difficult
questions of the Eastern or the Western origin of Byzantine art will
ever be finally settled.
The beginnings of Byzantine architecture have never been satisfactorily
accounted for. With S. Sophia it springs almost at once into full glory;
after S. Sophia comes the long decline. It may, however, be noted that
the 'endings' of Roman architecture are similarly obscure. Such
buildings as the Colosseum, in which the order is applied to an arched
building, are evidently transitional, the Roman construction and the
Greek decoration, though joined, not being merged into one perfect
style. Even in the baths and other great buildings of Imperial Rome the
decoration is still Greek in form and not yet fully adapted to the
arched construction. At Spalatro, in such parts as the Porta Aurea, a
developed style seems to be on the point of emerging, but it is not too
much to say that in no great Roman building do we find a perfect and
homogeneous style.
There is nothing in either the planning or the construction of S. Sophia
which cannot be derived from the buildings of the Roman Imperial period,
with the exception of the pendentive, a feature which had to be evolved
before the dome could be used with freedom on any building plan on a
square. The great brick-concrete vaulted construction is that of the
Roman baths, and with this is united a system of decoration founded on
the classic models, but showing no trace of the Greek beam tradition
which had ruled in Rome.
S. Sophia then may be regarded as the culminating point of one great
Roman-Byzantine school, of which the art of classic Rome shows the rise,
and the later Byzantine art the decline. This view is in accord with
history, for Constantinople was New Rome, and here, if anywhere, we
should expect to find preserved the traditions of Old Rome.
The division of Western Mediaeval Architecture into the two schools of
Romanesque and Gothic presents a parallel case. It is now realised that
no logical separation can be made between the two so-called styles.
Similarly we may continue to speak of the Classic Roman style and of the
Byzantine style, although the two really belong to one great era in the
history of art.
[10] _Eastern Palestine Memoirs_, p. 172. A similar dome is given by
Choisy, _L'Art de batir chez les Byzantins_, Plate XV.
[11] De Voguee, _Syrie centrale_, i. p. 45, Plate VII.
[12] Duerm, _Handbuch_, Part II. vol. iii. pp. 115, 149. A restored
plan is given in Lethaby's _Mediaeval Art_, p. 47.
[13] _Orient oder Rom_, p. 19.
[14] _Kleinasien_, p. 152.
[15] _Kleinasien_, p. 121 _et seq._
[16] Oskar Wulf, _Die Koimesiskirche in Nikaea_, p. 71.
[17] H. Rott, _Kleinasiensche Denkmaeler_, p. 329.
[18] Wulf, _op. cit._ p. 23.
[19] For local variations in late churches in Greece, see Traquair's
'Churches of Western Mani,' _Annual of British School at Athens_, xv.
1908.
[20] Strzygowski, 'Das Etschmiadzin Evangeliar,' _Byzant. Denkmaeler_,
i., 1891.
[21] Ravanica, F. Kanitz, _Serbiens byzantische Monumente_, Wien,
1862.
[22] Pullan and Texier, _S. Elias._
[23] G. Lampakis, _Les Antiquites chretiennes de la Grece_, Athens,
1902.
[24] Schultz and Barnsley, _The Monastery of S. Luke at Stiris_, p.
13, fig. 6.
[25] See, however, North Church in S. Mary, Panachrantos, p. 128.
[26] Strzygowski's views as to the early date of the drum-dome are not
universally accepted. The examples he produces seem rather octagons
carried up from the ground to give a clearstory under the dome than
true drums interposed between the dome and its pendentives.
[27] _Annual B.S.A._ xii. 1905-6. See also Schultz and Barnsley,
_Monastery of S. Luke at Stiris_.
[28] See p. 154.
[29] Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem. S. Mary Peribleptos; see _Vida de
Gran Tamorlan y itinerario del Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo_, p. 52.
[30] _L'Art de batir chez les Byzantins_, p. 57.
[31] _Ibid._ p. 99.
[32] _Sancta Sophia_, p. 219.
[33] _L'Art de batir chez les Byzantins_, p. 135.
[34] Hasluck, 'Bithynica,' _Annual B.S.A._ XIII. 1906-7.
CHAPTER II
THE CHURCH OF S. JOHN THE BAPTIST OF THE STUDION,
EMIR AHOR JAMISSI
The mosque Emir Ahor Jamissi, situated in the quarter of Psamathia, near
the modern Greek church of S. Constantine, and at short distance from
the Golden Gate (Yedi Koule), is the old church of S. John the Baptist,
which was associated with the celebrated monastery of Studius, [Greek: he
mone tou Stoudiou]. It may be reached by taking the train from Sirkiji
Iskelessi to Psamathia or Yedi Koule.[35]
In favour of the identification of the building, there is, first, the
authority of tradition,[36] which in the case of a church so famous may
be confidently accepted as decisive. In the next place, all indications
of the character and position of the Studion, however vague, point to
Emir Ahor Jamissi as the representative of that church. For the mosque
presents the characteristic features which belonged to the Studion as a
basilica of the fifth century, and stands where that sanctuary stood, in
the district at the south-western angle of the city,[37] and on the left
hand of the street leading from S. Mary Peribleptos (Soulou Monastir) to
the Golden Gate.[38] Furthermore, as held true of the Studion, the
mosque is in the vicinity of the Golden Gate,[39] and readily
accessible from a gate and landing (Narli Kapou) on the shore of the
Sea of Marmora.[40]
According to the historian Theophanes,[41] the church was erected in the
year 463 by the patrician Studius, after whom the church and the
monastery attached to it were named. He is described as a Roman of noble
birth and large means who devoted his wealth to the service of God,[42]
and may safely be identified with Studius who held the consulship in 454
during the reign of Marcian.[43]
If we may trust the Anonymus,[44] the church erected by Studius replaced
a sanctuary which stood at one time, like the Chora, outside the city.
Seeing the territory immediately beyond the Constantinian fortifications
was well peopled before its inclusion within the city limits by
Theodosius II., there is nothing improbable in the existence of such
extra-mural sanctuaries, and as most, if not all, of them would be
small buildings, they would naturally require enlargement or
reconstruction when brought within the wider bounds of the capital.
According to Suidas,[45] the building was at first a parochial church;
its attachment to a monastery was an after-thought of its founder.
The monastery was large and richly endowed, capable of accommodating one
thousand monks.[46] Its first inmates were taken from a fraternity known
as the Akoimeti, 'the sleepless'; so named because in successive
companies they celebrated divine service in their chapels day and night
without ceasing, like the worshippers in the courts of heaven.
[Illustration: PLATE V.
(1) S. JOHN OF THE STUDION. RUINED INTERIOR, SEEN FROM THE MINARET OF
THE MOSQUE.
(2) S. JOHN OF THE STUDION, FROM THE WEST.
_To face page 36._]
'Even thus of old
Our ancestors, within the still domain
Of vast cathedral or conventual church
Their vigils kept: where tapers day and night
On the dim altar burned continually.
In token that the House was ever more
Watching to God. Religious men were they;
Nor would their reason, tutored to aspire
Above this transitory world, allow
That there should pass a moment of the year
When in their land the Almighty's service ceased.'
But this devout practice does not seem to have been long continued at
the Studion; for we never hear of it in any account of the discipline of
the House. The monks of the Studion should therefore not be identified
with the Akoimeti who took up such a determined and independent attitude
in the theological conflicts under Zeno, Basiliscus, and Justinian the
Great.[47]
In the course of its history the church underwent noteworthy repairs on
two occasions. It was first taken in hand for that purpose, soon after
the middle of the eleventh century,[48] by the Emperor Isaac Comnenus
(1057-58), who was interested in the House because he and his brother
had received part of their education in that 'illustrious and glorious
school of virtue.'[49] What the repairs then made exactly involved is
unfortunately not stated. But, according to Scylitzes, they were so
extensive that 'to tell in detail what the emperor and empress did for
the embellishment of the church would surpass the labour of
Hercules.'[50] Probably they concerned chiefly the decoration of the
edifice.
The next repairs on record were made about the year 1290, in the reign
of Andronicus II., by his unfortunate brother Constantine
Porphyrogenitus. Owing to the neglect of the building during the Latin
occupation the roof had fallen in, the cells of the monks had
disappeared, and sheep grazed undisturbed on the grass which covered the
grounds. Constantine, rich, generous, fond of popularity, did all in his
power to restore the former glory of the venerated shrine. The new roof
was a remarkable piece of work; large sums were spent upon the proper
accommodation of the monks, and the grounds were enclosed within strong
walls.[51]
Like other monastic institutions, the Studion suffered greatly at the
hands of the iconoclast emperors. Under Constantine Copronymus, indeed,
the fraternity was scattered to the winds and practically suppressed, so
that only twelve old members of the House were able to take advantage of
the permission to return to their former home, upon the first
restoration of eikons in 787 by the Empress Irene. Under these
circumstances a company of monks, with the famous abbot Theodore at
their head, were eventually brought from the monastery of Saccudio to
repeople the Studion, and with their advent in 799 the great era in the
history of the House began, the number of the monks rising to seven
hundred, if not one thousand.[52]
Theodore had already established a great reputation for sanctity and
moral courage. For when Constantine VI. repudiated the Empress Maria
and married Theodote, one of her maids of honour, Theodore, though the
new empress was his relative, denounced the marriage and the priest
who had celebrated it, insisting that moral principles should govern
the highest and lowest alike, and for this action he had gladly
endured scourging and exile. The Studion had, therefore, a master who
feared the face of no man, and who counted the most terrible
sufferings as the small dust of the balance when weighed against
righteousness, and under him the House became illustrious for its
resistance to the tyranny of the civil power in matters affecting
faith and morals. When the Emperor Nicephorus ordered the restoration
of the priest who had celebrated the marriage of Constantine VI. with
Theodote, not only did Theodore and his brother Joseph, bishop of
Thessalonica, and their venerable uncle Plato, endure imprisonment and
exile, but every monk in the Studion defied the emperor. Summoning the
fraternity into his presence, Nicephorus bade all who would obey his
order go to the right, and all who dared to disobey him go to the
left. Not a single man went to the right. Under the very eyes of the
despot all went to the left, and in his wrath Nicephorus broke up the
community and distributed the monks among various monasteries. Upon
the accession of Michael I. the exiled monks and Theodore were allowed
indeed to return to the Studion, peace being restored by the
degradation of the priest who had celebrated the obnoxious marriage.
But another storm darkened the sky, when Leo V., the Armenian, in 813,
renewed the war against eikons. Theodore threw himself into the
struggle with all the force of his being as their defender. He
challenged the right of the imperial power to interfere with religious
questions; he refused to keep silence on the subject; and on Palm
Sunday, in 815, led a procession of his monks carrying eikons in their
hands in triumph round the monastery grounds. Again he was scourged
and banished. But he could not be subdued. By means of a large and
active correspondence he continued an incessant and powerful agitation
against the iconoclasts of the day. Nor would he come to terms with
Michael II., who had married a nun, and who allowed the use of eikons
only outside the capital. So Theodore retired, apparently a defeated
man, to the monastery of Acritas[53]; and there, 'on Sunday, 11
November 826, and about noon, feeling his strength fail, he bade them
light candles and sing the 119th psalm, which seems to have been sung
at funerals. At the words: "I will never forget Thy commandments, for
with them Thou hast quickened me," he passed away.' He was buried on
the island of Prinkipo, but eighteen years later, when eikons were
finally restored in the worship of the Orthodox Church, his body was
transferred to the Studion, and laid with great ceremony in the
presence of the Empress Theodora beside the graves of his uncle Plato
and his brother Joseph, in sign that after all he had conquered.[54]
_Tandem hic quiescit._
NOTE
His remains were interred at the east end of the southern aisle,
where his uncle Plato and his brother Joseph had been buried before
him, and where Naucratius and Nicholas, his successors as abbots of
the Studion, were laid to rest after him. [Greek: pros to dexio merei
en to kat' anatolas tou Prodromikou temenous pandoxo kai hiero ton
martyron seko, entha de kai tou hosiou patros hemon Theodorou he
paneuklees kai pansebastos timia theke kathidrytai] (_Vita S. Nicolai
Studitae_, Migne, _P.G._ tome 105).
There, in fact, during the recent Russian exploration of the
church, three coffins were discovered: one containing a single body,
another four bodies, and another three bodies. The grave had
evidently been disturbed at some time, for some of the bodies had no
head, and all the coffins lay under the same bed of mortar. No
marks were found by which to identify the persons whose remains
were thus brought to view. But there can be no doubt that five of
the bodies belonged to the five persons mentioned above. To whom
the three other bodies belonged is a matter of pure conjecture. They
might be the remains of three intimate friends of Theodore, viz.
Athanasius, Euthemius, Timotheus, or more probably of the abbots,
Sophronius (851-55), Achilles (858-63), Theodosius (863-64). Cf.
_Itin. russes_, p. 100.
It would be a mistake, however, to think of Theodore only as a
controversalist and defier of the civil authority. He was a deeply
religious man, a pastor of souls, and he revived the religious and moral
life of men, far and wide, not only in his own day, but long after his
life on earth had closed. He made the Studion the centre of a great
spiritual influence, which never wholly lost the impulse of his
personality or the loftiness of his ideal. The forms of mediaeval piety
have become antiquated, and they were often empty and vain, but we must
not be blind to the fact that they were frequently filled with a passion
for holy living, and gave scope for the creation of characters which,
notwithstanding their limitations, produced great and good men.
[Illustration: PLATE VI.
(1) S. JOHN OF THE STUDION. FACADE OF THE NARTHEX.
(2) S. JOHN OF THE STUDION. THE RUINED INTERIOR: WEST END OF THE NORTH
SIDE.
_To face page 40._]
Speaking of Eastern monks and abbots, especially during the eighth and
ninth centuries, Mr. Finlay, the historian, justly remarks that 'the
manners, the extensive charity, and the pure morality of these abbots,
secured them the love and admiration of the people, and tended to
disseminate a higher standard of morality than had previously prevailed
in Constantinople. This fact must not be overlooked in estimating the
various causes which led to the regeneration of the Eastern Empire under
the iconoclast emperors. While the Pope winked at the disorders in the
palace of Charlemagne, the monks of the East prepared the public mind
for the dethronement of Constantine VI. because he obtained an illegal
divorce and formed a second marriage. The corruption of monks and the
irregularities prevalent in the monasteries of the West contrast
strongly with the condition of the Eastern monks.' Certainly to no one
is this tribute of praise due more than to the brotherhood in the
monastery of Studius.
The monks of the Studion, like most Greek monks, lived under the rules
prescribed by S. Basil for the discipline of men who aspired to reach
'the angelic life.' Theodore, however, quickened the spirit which found
expression in those rules, and while inculcating asceticism in its
extremest form, showed greater consideration for the weakness of human
nature. The penalties he assigned for transgressions were on the whole
less Draconian than those inflicted before his time.
According to the moral ideal cherished in the monastery, the true life
of man was to regard oneself but dust and ashes, and, like the angels,
to be ever giving God thanks. If a monk repined at such a lot, he was to
castigate himself by eating only dry bread for a week and performing 500
acts of penance. The prospect of death was always to be held in view.
Often did the corridors of the monastery resound with the cry, 'We shall
die, we shall die!' The valley of the shadow of death was considered the
road to life eternal. A monk could not call even a needle his own. Nor
were the clothes he wore his personal property. They were from time to
time thrown into a heap with the clothes of the other members of the
House, and every monk then took from the pile the garment most
convenient to his hand. Female animals were forbidden the monastery. A
monk was not allowed to kiss his mother, not even at Easter, under
penalty of excommunication for fifty days. Daily he attended seven
services, and had often to keep vigil all night long. There was only one
set meal a day; anything more in the way of food consisted of the
fragments which a monk laid aside from that meal. No meat was eaten
unless by special permission for reasons of health.
If a brother ate meat without permission he went without fish, eggs, and
cheese for forty days. The ordinary food consisted of vegetables cooked
in oil. Fish, cheese, and eggs were luxuries. Two, sometimes three, cups
of wine were permitted. If a brother was so unfortunate as to break a
dish, he had to stand before the assembled monks at dinner time with
covered head, and hold the broken article in view of all in the
refectory.[55] It was forbidden to a monk to feel sad. Melancholy was a
sin, and was to be overcome by prayer, one hundred and fifty
genuflexions, and five hundred Kyrie Eleisons a day. The monks were
required to read regularly in the monastery library.[56] The task of
copying manuscripts occupied a place of honour, and was under strict
regulations. Fifty genuflexions were the penalty prescribed for not
keeping one's copy clean; one hundred and fifty such acts of penance for
omitting an accent or mark of punctuation; thirty, for losing one's
temper and breaking his pen; fasting on dry bread was the fate of the
copyist guilty of leaving out any part of the original, and three days'
seclusion for daring to trust his memory instead of following closely
the text before him.[57]
Ignatius of Smolensk[58] found Russian monks in the monastery employed
in transcribing books for circulation in Russia. Stephen of Novgorod[59]
met two old friends from his town busy copying the Scriptures. A good
monastic scriptorium rendered an immense service; it did the work of the
printing-press.
Yet, notwithstanding all restrictions, men could be happy at the
Studion. One of its inmates for instance congratulates himself thus on
his lot there, 'No barbarian looks upon my face; no woman hears my
voice. For a thousand years no useless ([Greek: apraktos]) man has
entered the monastery of Studius; none of the female sex has trodden its
court. I dwell in a cell that is like a palace; a garden, an oliveyard,
and a vineyard surround me. Before me are graceful and luxuriant cypress
trees. On one hand is the city with its market-place; on the other, the
mother of churches and the empire of the world.'[60]
Hymnology was likewise cultivated at the Studion, many hymns of the
Greek Church being composed by Theodore and his brother Joseph.
Two abbots of the monastery became patriarchs: Antony (975),[61] and
Alexius (1025),[62] the latter on the occasion when he carried the great
relic of the Studion, the head of John the Baptist, to Basil II. lying
at the point of death.[63]
At least as early as the reign of Alexius I. Comnenus, the abbot of the
Studion held the first place among his fellow-abbots in the city. His
precedence is distinctly recognised in a Patriarchal Act of 1381 as a
right of old standing.[64]
The spirit of independence which characterized the monastery did not die
with the abbot Theodore. The monks of the Studion were the most stubborn
opponents of the famous Photius who had been elevated to the patriarchal
throne directly from the ranks of the laity, and in the course of the
conflict between him and the monks during the first tenure of his
office for ten years, the abbots of the House were changed five times.
Indeed, when Photius appointed Santabarenus as the abbot, a man accused
of being a Manichaean, and who professed to be able to communicate with
departed spirits, many of the monks, if not all of them, left their
home. Nor was this the last assertion of the freedom of conscience for
which this monastery was distinguished, and which makes it memorable in
history.
Like other monasteries the Studion often served as a place of correction
for offenders whom it was expedient to render harmless without recourse
to the extreme rigour of the law. Santabarenus, who has just been
mentioned, was sent in his wild youth, after narrowly escaping a
sentence of death at the hands of the Caesar Bardas, to this monastery
in the hope of being reformed in the orthodox atmosphere of the House.
In the reign of Leo VI. (826-912), an official named Mousikos was sent
hither to be cured of the propensity to accept bribes.[65] In 912,
Gregoras and Choirosphacta were obliged to join the brotherhood to
repent at leisure for having favoured the attempt of Constantine Ducas,
domestic of the Scholae, to usurp the throne of Constantine VII.
Porphyrogenitus when seven years of age.[66]
[Illustration: PLATE VII.
(1) S. JOHN OF THE STUDION. ENTABLATURE AND ANTA CAPITAL IN THE NARTHEX.
(2) S. JOHN OF THE STUDION. CORNICE IN THE NARTHEX, LOOKING UP.
_To face page 44._]
Several emperors sought the shelter of the Studion as a refuge from
danger, or as a retreat from the vanity of the world. Thither, in 1041,
Michael V. and his uncle Constantine fled from the popular fury excited
by their deposition of the Empress Zoe and the slaughter of three
thousand persons in the defence of the palace. The two fugitives made
for the monastery by boat, and betook themselves to the church for
sanctuary. But as soon as the place of their concealment became known,
an angry crowd forced a way into the building to wreak vengeance upon
them, and created a scene of which Psellus has left us a graphic
account. Upon hearing the news of what was going on, he and an officer
of the imperial guard mounted horse and galloped to the Studion. A
fierce mob was madly attempting to pull down the structure, and it was
with the utmost difficulty that the two friends managed to enter the
church and make their way to the altar. The building seemed full of wild
animals, glaring with eyes on fire at their victims, and making the air
resound with the most terrible cries. Michael was on his knees clasping
the holy table; Constantine stood on the right; both were dressed like
monks, and their features were so transformed by terror as to be almost
beyond recognition. The spectacle of greatness thus brought low was so
pathetic that Psellus burst into tears and sobbed aloud. But the crowd
only grew more fierce, and drew nearer and nearer to the fugitives as
though to rend them in pieces. Only a superstitious dread restrained it
from laying hands upon them in a shrine so sacred and venerated. The
uproar lasted for hours, the mob content meanwhile with striking terror
and making flight impossible. At length, late in the afternoon, the
prefect of the city appeared upon the scene, accompanied by soldiers and
followed by large crowds of citizens. He came with instructions to bring
Michael and Constantine out of the church. In vain did he try the effect
of mild words and promises of a gentle fate. The fallen emperor and his
uncle clung to the altar more desperately. The prefect then gave orders
that the two wretched men should be dragged forth by main force. They
gripped the altar yet more tightly, and in piteous tones invoked the aid
of all the eikons in the building. The scene became so heartrending that
most of the spectators interfered on behalf of the victims of
misfortune, and only by giving solemn assurance that they would not be
put to death was the prefect allowed to proceed to their arrest. Michael
and Constantine were then dragged by the feet as far as the Sigma, above
S. Mary Peribleptos (Soulou Monastir), and after having their eyes burnt
out were banished to different monasteries, to muse on the vanity of
human greatness and repent of their misdeeds.[67]
The Studion appears in the final rupture of the Eastern and Western
Churches.[68] The immediate occasion was a letter sent by the
Archbishop of Achrida, in 1053, to the Bishop of Trani, condemning the
Church of Rome for the use of unleavened bread in the administration of
the Holy Communion, and for allowing a fast on Saturday. Nicetas
Stethetos (Pectoratus), a member of the House renowned for his
asceticism, and for his courage in reproving the scandalous connection
of Constantine IX. with Sklerena, wrote a pamphlet, in Latin, in which,
in addition to the charges against Rome made by the Archbishop of
Achrida, the enforced celibacy of the clergy was denounced. The pamphlet
was widely circulated by the Patriarch Kerularios, who wished to bring
the dispute between the Churches to an issue. But the emperor not being
prepared to go so far, invited the Pope to send three legates to
Constantinople to settle the differences which disturbed the Christian
world. Cardinal Humbert, one of the legates, replied to Nicetas in the
most violent language of theological controversy, and to bring matters
to a conclusion an assembly, which was attended by the Emperor
Constantine, his court, and the Papal legates, met at the Studion on the
24th of June 1054. A Greek translation of the pamphlet composed by
Nicetas was then read, and after the discussion of the subject, Nicetas
retracted his charges and condemned all opponents of the Roman Church.
His pamphlet was, moreover, thrown into the fire by the emperor's
orders, and on the following day he called upon the Papal legates, who
were lodged at the palace of the Pege (Baloukli), and was received into
the communion of the Church he had lately denounced. But the patriarch
was not so fickle or pliant. He would not yield an iota, and on the 15th
of July 1054 Cardinal Humbert laid on the altar of S. Sophia the bull of
excommunication against Kerularios and all his followers, which has kept
Western and Eastern Christendom divided to this day.
When Michael VII. (1067-78) saw that the tide of popular feeling had
turned against him in favour of Nicephorus Botoniates, he meekly retired
to this House, declining to purchase a crown with cruelty by calling
upon the Varangian guards to defend his throne with their battle-axes.
Michael was appointed bishop of Ephesus, but after paying one visit to
his diocese he returned to Constantinople and took up his abode in the
monastery of Manuel (p. 257).[69]
To the Studion, where he had studied in his youth and which he had
embellished, the Emperor Isaac Comnenus retired, when pleurisy and the
injuries he received while boar-hunting made him realize that he had but
a short time to live. In fact, he survived his abdication for one year
only, but during that period he proved a most exemplary monk, showing
the greatest deference to his abbot, and besides performing other lowly
duties acted as keeper of the monastery gate. How thoroughly he was
reconciled to the exchange of a throne for a cell appears in the remark
made to his wife, who had meantime taken the veil at the Myrelaion,
'Acknowledge that when I gave you the crown I made you a slave, and that
when I took it away I set you free.' His widow commemorated his death
annually at the Studion, and on the last occasion surprised the abbot by
making a double offering, saying, 'I may not live another year,' a
presentiment which proved true. According to her dying request,
Aecatherina was buried in the cemetery of the Studion, 'as a simple nun,
without any sign to indicate that she was born a Bulgarian princess and
had been a Roman empress.'[70]
On the occasion of the triumphal entry of Michael Palaeologus into the
city in 1261, the emperor followed the eikon of the Theotokos
Hodegetria, to whom the recovery of the Empire was attributed, on foot
as far as the Studion; and there, having placed the eikon in the church,
he mounted horse to proceed to S. Sophia.[71]
One of the sons of Sultan Bajazet was buried at the Studion.[72] The
prince had been sent by the Sultan as a hostage to the Byzantine Court,
and being very young attended school in Constantinople with John, the
son of the Emperor Manuel. There he acquired a taste for Greek letters,
and became a convert to the Christian faith; but for fear of the
Sultan's displeasure he was long refused permission to be baptized.
Only when the young man lay at the point of death, in 1417, a victim to
the plague raging in the city, was the rite administered, his schoolmate
and friend acting as sponsor.
A tombstone from the cemetery of the monastery is built into the Turkish
wall at the north-eastern corner of the church. It bears an epitaph to
the following effect:--'In the month of September of the year 1387, fell
asleep the servant of God, Dionysius the Russian, on the sixth day of
the month.' The patrician Bonus, who defended the city against the Avars
in 627, while the Emperor Heraclius was absent dealing with the
Persians, was buried at the Studion.[73]
On the festival of the Decapitation of S. John the Baptist, the emperor
attended service at the Studion in great state. Early in the morning the
members of the senate assembled therefore at the monastery, while
dignitaries of an inferior rank took their place outside the gate (Narli
Kapou) in the city walls below the monastery, and at the pier at the
foot of the steep path that descends from that gate to the shore of the
Sea of Marmora, all awaiting the arrival of the imperial barge from the
Great Palace. Both sides of the path were lined by monks of the House,
holding lighted tapers, and as soon as the emperor disembarked, the
officials at the pier and the crowd of monks, with the abbot at their
head, swinging his silver censer of fragrant smoke, led the way up to
the gate. There a halt was made for the magistri, patricians, and
omphikialioi ([Greek: omphikialioi]) to do homage to the sovereign and
join the procession, and then the long train wended its way through the
open grounds attached to the monastery ([Greek: dia tou exaerou]), and
through covered passages ([Greek: dia ton ekeise diabatikon]),[74] until
it reached the south-eastern end of the narthex ([Greek: eiserchontai
dia tou pros anatoliken dexiou merous tou narthekos]). Before the
entrance at that point, the emperor put on richly embroidered robes,
lighted tapers, and then followed the clergy into the church, to take
his stand at the east end of the south aisle. The most important act he
performed during the service was to incense the head of John the Baptist
enshrined on the right hand of the bema. At the conclusion of the Office
of the day, he was served by the monks with refreshments under the shade
of the trees in the monastery grounds ([Greek: anadendradion]); and,
after a short rest, proceeded to his barge with the same ceremonial as
attended his arrival, and returned to the palace.[75]
[Illustration: PLATE VIII.
S. JOHN OF THE STUDION, FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.
_To face page 48._]
The church was converted into a mosque in the reign of Bajazet II.
(1481-1512) by the Sultan's equerry, after whom it is now named.
_Architectural Features_
The church of S. John the Baptist of the Studion is a basilica, and is
of special interest because the only surviving example of that type in
Constantinople, built while the basilica was the dominant form of
ecclesiastical architecture in the Christian world. It has suffered
severely since the Turkish conquest, especially from the fire which, in
1782, devastated the quarter in which it stands, and from the fall of
its roof, a few winters ago, under an unusual weight of snow. Still,
what of it remains and the descriptions of its earlier state given by
Gyllius, Gerlach, and other visitors, enable us to form a fair idea of
its original appearance. The recent explorations conducted by the
Russian Institute at Constantinople have also added much to our
knowledge of the building.
It is the oldest church fabric in the city, and within its precincts we
stand amid the surroundings of early Christian congregations. For,
partly in original forms, partly in imitations, we still find here a
basilica's characteristic features: _the atrium_, or quadrangular court
before the church; on three of its sides surrounded by _cloisters_; in
its centre, the marble _phiale_ or fountain, for the purification of the
gathering worshippers; the _narthex_, a pillared porch along the western
facade, where catechumens and penitents, unworthy to enter the
sanctuary itself, stood afar off; the interior area divided into _nave_
and _aisles_ by lines of columns; the semicircular _apse_ at the eastern
extremity of the nave for altar and clergy; and _galleries_ on the other
sides of the building to provide ample accommodation for large
assemblies of faithful people.
NOTE
Gyllius (_De Top. Constant._ l. iv. c. 9) describes the church as
follows: 'Quod (monasterium) nunc non extat; aedes extat, translata
in religionem Mametanam; in cujus vestibulo sunt quatuor columnae
cum trabeatione egregie elaborata; in interiore parte aedium
utrinque columnae sunt septem virides, nigris maculis velut fragmentis
alterius generis lapidum insertis distinctae, quarum perimeter est
sex pedum et sex digitorum. Denique earum ratio capitulorum,
epistyliorum opere Corinthio elaborata, eadem est quae columnarum
vestibuli. Supra illas sex existunt totidem columnae in parte aedis
superiore. In area aedis Studianae est cisterna, cujus lateritias
cameras sustinent viginti tres columnae excelsae Corinthiae.'
Gerlach (_Tagebuch_, p. 217; cf. pp. 359, 406) describes it under
the style of the church of S. Theodore, for he confounds the monastery
of Studius with that of the Peribleptos at Soulou Monastir: 'Das ist
eine sehr hohe und weite Kirche (wie die unsern); hat zwei
Reyhen Marmel-steiner Saeulen mit Corinthischen Knaeufen (capitellis),
auff einer jeden Seiten sieben; auff deren jeden wieder ein andere
Saeule stehet. Der Boden ist mit lauter buntem von Voegeln und anderen
Thieren gezierten Marmel auff das schoenste gepflaestert.' (This is a
very lofty and broad church (like our churches). It has two rows of
marble columns with Corinthian capitals, on either side seven; over
each of which stands again another column. The floor is paved in the
most beautiful fashion entirely with variegated marble, adorned with
figures of birds and other animals.)
Choiseul Gouffier (_Voyage pittoresque en Grece_, ii. p. 477), French
ambassador to the Sublime Porte (1779-92), speaks of the church in
the following terms: 'Dans l'interieur sont de chaque cote sept
colonnes de vert antique, surmontees d'une frise de marbre blanc
parfaitement sculptee, qui contient un ordre plus petit et tres bien
proportionne avec le premier. Je ne sais de quel marbre sont ces
secondes colonnes, parce que les Turcs qui defigurent tout ont imagine
de les couvrir de chaux.'
Ph. Bruun (_Constantinople, ses sanctuaires et ses reliques au
commencement du XVe siecle_, Odessa, 1883) identifies with the
Studion one of the churches dedicated to S. John, which Ruy Gonzalez
de Clavijo visited in Constantinople when on his way to the Court of
Tamerlane. But that church was 'a round church without corners,' 'una
quadra redonda sin esquinas,' and had forty-eight columns of verd
antique, 'veinte e quatro marmoles de jaspe verde, ... e otros veinte
e quatro marmoles de jaspe verde.' What church the Spanish ambassador
had in view, if his description is correct, it is impossible to say.
No other writer describes such a church in Constantinople. See the
Note at the end of this chapter for the full text of the ambassador's
description.
The northern wall of the atrium is original, as the crosses in brick
formed in its brickwork show. The trees which shade the court, the
Turkish tombstones beneath them, and the fountain in the centre, combine
to form a very beautiful approach to the church, and reproduce the
general features and atmosphere of its earlier days.
The narthex is divided into three bays, separated by heavy arches. It is
covered by a modern wooden roof, but shows no signs of ever having been
vaulted. The centre bay contains in its external wall a beautiful
colonnade of four marble columns, disposed, to use a classical term, 'in
antis.' They stand on comparatively poor bases, but their Corinthian
capitals are exceptionally fine, showing the richest Byzantine form of
that type of capital. The little birds under the angles of the abaci
should not be overlooked.
The entablature above the columns, with its architrave, frieze, and
cornice, follows the classic form very closely, and is enriched in every
member. Particularly interesting are the birds, the crosses, and other
figures in the spaces between the modillions and the heavy scroll of the
frieze. The drill has been very freely used throughout, and gives a
pleasant sparkle to the work.
In the second and fourth intercolumniations there are doorways with
moulded jambs, lintels, and cornices, but only the upper parts of these
doorways are now left open to serve as windows.
The cornice of the entablature returns westwards at its northern and
southern ends, indicating that a colonnade, with a smaller cornice, ran
along the northern and southern sides of the atrium, if not also along
its western side. The cloisters behind the colonnades, were connected
at their west end with the narthex by two large and elaborately moulded
doorways still in position.
Five doors lead from the narthex into the church; three opening into the
nave, the others into the aisles.
The interior of the church, now almost a total ruin, was divided into
nave and two aisles by colonnades of seven columns of verd antique
marble. But only six of the original columns have survived the injuries
which the building has sustained; the other columns are Turkish, and are
constructed of wood with painted plaster covering.
The colonnades supported an entablature of late Corinthian type, which,
as the fall of the Turkish plaster that once covered it has revealed,
had the same moulding as the entablature in the narthex. The architrave
was in three faces, with a small bead ornament to the upper two, and
finished above with a small projecting moulding. The frieze was an ogee,
bellied in the lower part. Of the cornice only the bed mould, carved
with a leaf and tongue, remains.
Above each colonnade stood another range of seven[76] columns connected,
probably, by arches. Along the northern, southern, and western sides of
the church were galleries constructed of wood. Those to the north and
south still exist in a ruined condition, and many of the stone corbels
which supported the beams remain in the walls. Only scanty vestiges of
the gallery above the narthex can be now distinguished. Its western
wall, the original outer wall of the upper part of the church, has
totally disappeared. Its eastern arcade has been replaced by the Turkish
wall which constitutes the present outer wall of that part of the
church. But beyond either end of that wall are visible, though built up,
the old openings by which the gallery communicated with its companion
galleries; while to the west of the wall project the ragged ends of the
Byzantine walls which formed the gallery's northern and southern sides.
The nave rose probably to a greater height than it does now, and had a
roof at a higher level than the roofing of the aisles. It doubtless
resembled the basilican churches at Salonica, either with clearstory
windows, as in S. Demetrius, or without such windows, as in Eski Juma
Jamissi.
[Illustration: PLATE IX.
(1) S. JOHN OF THE STUDION. EAST END.
_E. M. Antoniadi._
(2) S. JOHN OF THE STUDION, NORTH SIDE, EAST END.
_To face page 52._]
The nave terminates in a large apse, semicircular within and showing
three sides on the exterior. Only the lower part is original; the
Turkish superstructure is lower and on a smaller scale than the
Byzantine portion it has replaced. There are no side chapels. Under the
bema the Russian explorers discovered a small cruciform crypt. The large
quantity of mosaic cubes found in the church during the recent Russian
excavations proves that the church was decorated with mosaics, while the
remains of iron plugs in the western wall for holding marble slabs show
that the building had the customary marble revetment. But what is
curious is to find the mortar pressed over the face of the stones, and
broad decorative joints formed by ruled incised lines and colour. Mr. W.
S. George suggests that this was a temporary decoration executed pending
some delay in the covering of the walls with marble. He also thinks that
the importance given to the joint in late Byzantine work and in Turkish
work may be a development from such early treatment of mortar.
The floor of the church was paved with pieces of marble arranged in
beautiful patterns, in which figures of animals and scenes from classic
mythology were inlaid. Gerlach[77] noticed the beauty of the pavement,
and Salzenberg[78] represents a portion of it in his work on S. Sophia.
But the members of the Russian Institute of Constantinople have had the
good fortune to bring the whole pavement to light.